Email this article to a friend

$hrinking buyouts: An offer you can't refuse?

Since $25,000 buyouts were introduced in the 1990s, many feds hoped and assumed
Uncle Sam would sweeten the kitty. Some have delayed retirement anticipating more
generous buyouts.

Size, sometimes, counts. Big time!

But the trend, if there is one, seems to be in the other
direction. As in smaller, not bigger buyouts. Consider...

Federal buyouts come in many flavors.

If you work for most federal agencies there is the take-it-
or-leave it, one-size-fits-all $25,000 buyout. You agree to take regular or early
retirement, and you get a lump-sum payment minus deductions. Depending on your
salary, state taxes and deductions the final payment works out to around $18,000,
more or less.

If you work for some profit-making federal agencies that are
financed in whole or part by fees (from banks or other operations they oversee),
buyouts can be tailored and made more generous than the typical $25K goodbye. The
same is reportedly true for certain intelligence agencies that can write their own
buyout checks.

But for a large chunk of the federal workforcem there are (or
have been) a variety of buyouts. For example would you prefer:

A buyout equal to six months pay.

The standard $25,000 buyout.

A buyout, paid in two annual installments, worth
$20,000.

Or, a buyout of $15,000 to be paid over two years.

If you've been around the rapidly-shrinking U.S. Postal
Service for awhile, you have seen all of the above offers given to tens of
thousands of employees.

The USPS position toward buyouts has been never-say-never.

Over the years, the USPS, still the second largest federal
agency (after Defense) has eliminated hundreds of thousands of workers. At last
count, there were between 530,000 and 540,000 postal workers. But that was just
before the USPS offered $15,000 buyouts (the smallest in the series) to tens of
thousands of workers, clerks, drivers, mechanics and others — represented by
the giant American Postal Workers Union. That's a lot of people. In most federal
agencies, unions "represent" many — sometimes the majority of —
workers who are not dues-paying members. By contrast, in the USPS, most of the
people represented by the APWU and the NALC are also members of the union.

During the 1990s, the USPS offered buyouts equal to as much as
six-months salary. Back then that wasn't all that much for the majority of its
workforce, which is made up of clerks, letter carriers and mail handlers. But
some higher-paid employees took the half-year pay. In many cases, it turned out
to be the wrong employees, and the service had to hire new people to replace them.

Congress took a very dim view of the situation, and postal officials issued a
"Never Again" pledge. Never again lasted until the summer of 2009 when a new
round of (then) $20,000 buyouts were offered. Two of every 10 postmasters (about
4,100 people) took the buyouts. By the time buyouts were offered to members of
the mail-handler craft, they had shrunk to $15,000 — the current level
— and roughly 3,000 took the money and retired.

SSA to close offices earlier to cut overtimeStarting Nov. 19, Social Security Administration offices around the country
will close 30 minutes early. Additionally, starting in 2013, offices will close at
12 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Acquisition executives
figuring out how to deal with budget woes
A Federal News Radio exclusive survey of chief acquisition officers and senior
procurement executives showed most are not preparing for budget cuts or
sequestration. These acquisition executives also say they are protecting money for
training acquisition workers. OFPP Administrator Joe Jordan said his office is
helping agencies make better decisions about how and where to spend money.